Why are hit points generated randomly?

[Ace]

Sacred cow. I use 3/4 die roll: d4 -> 3, d6 -> 4, d8 -> 6, d10 -> 7, d12 -> 9.

That what I do as well except that levels 1 and 2 get max.

 

[Ace]

HP are a part of a character's abilities. Unless you roll for skill points, spells, and randomly determine whether you can raise your BAB, Saves, etc, you shouldnt roll HP.

SNIP

I like randomness in play, and none in character generation.

I agree with this post.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Real Men roll for hit points.

 

[Immak Antunel]

I use a hp-rolling method stolen from someone else on these boards. I think he called it "cascading rerolls", where if you are unsatisfied with your roll on, say, a d12, you can reroll on a d10, and if it still sucks, on a d8... all the way down to d4. Still gives players the excitement of uncertain rolling, but almost guarantees at least average totals.

 

[Drowbane]

[shilsen being borken!]

The Sacred Cow known as Random HP needs to be slaughtered. My Portland group uses Max HP for PCs and Monsters alike. My Vancouver group uses the Iron Heroes method (although none of them knew it before I joined). d4 = d4, d6 = d4+2, d8 = d4+4, etc...

 

[DungeonMaester]

Real Men roll for hit points.

Quoted for Truth. Random rolls in general are a scared cow that is being dismissed. Why have random HP when you can have fixed hp? Why have random stats when you can choose fixed amounts?

I see this as why have a chance of high or low stats when you can have medium or high stats. RPGs are moving to start Min/max, and I do not like it.

---Rusty

 

[Felon]

For the same reason that attributes should be generated randomly, because otherwise everyone is a carbon clone. Variety is the spice of life and gaming.

I think we have a candidate for "week's weakest rationale" here. Characters are not reduced to "carbon clones" simply because their hit points are averaged. Hit points have very little to do with character variety.

 

[Drowbane]

Real Men roll for hit points.

.....

Using the "Real Men" line doesn't help your argument. Most of those lines equate to "Real Men are blithering idiots!".

No offense mate.

 

[Felon]

Quoted for Truth. Random rolls in general are a scared cow that is being dismissed. Why have random HP when you can have fixed hp? Why have random stats when you can choose fixed amounts?

Why indeed? You don't provide the answers.

I see this as why have a chance of high or low stats when you can have medium or high stats. RPGs are moving to start Min/max, and I do not like it.

D&D has always had min-maxing, and older editions had more of it, not less. Randomization allowed min-maxers to cheat like crazy. I certainly see fewer 18's now than I used to.

And really, wanting to have mediocre stats instead of llow stats hardly makes one a min-maxer. It just means players want to play characters of heroic ability, not comic relief weaklings.

 

[Felon]

I like randomness in play, and none in character generation.

See, some folks want that gambler's thrill of major stakes riding on a die roll. The thing is, if the roller loses the gamble, then he's traded off short-term excitement long-term dissatisfaction. It's a bad deal.

I've come to notice that in the groups I've gamed with, the desire to inject a lot of randomness in character generation (and advancement) is due to disinterest and boredom with what's actually going on in the campaign, which is where the surprises actually belong.